


A Binding Contract

by Umidunnostuff



Series: Demon au [1]
Category: Six of Crows Series - Leigh Bardugo
Genre: Demon AU, Gen, Hinted wesper, No shipping, demon!Kaz, mentions of magic and witchcraft, mild violence, witch!Nina
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-23
Updated: 2017-01-23
Packaged: 2018-09-19 10:16:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,409
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9435776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Umidunnostuff/pseuds/Umidunnostuff
Summary: Inej and her crew of hunters try and prevent a powerful demon summoning, but all doesn't go as planned, and they end up with one demon on the loose, and a questionably trustworthy demon named Dirtyhands hanging around.





	

"And you're sure this is the house that he's summoning the demon into?" Matthias asked the Wylan for the third time in as many minutes.

"Yes, for the last time, I'm absolutely certain that he's summoning it here. He was days into the ritual already when I got out," Wylan said, exasperated. The five of them were observing a regular looking isolated farmhouse from some bushes off to the side. 

"Do we know anything about who he's planning on summoning tonight?" Nina asked. As the only witch in the group, she was responsible for casting the binding that would keep the demon corporeal long enough for them to kill it. Depending on their power levels and abilities, though, it could be difficult. 

"No, only that it's supposed to be strong. The solstice is supposed to make the summoning easier or something? I couldn't read his books or notes, so all I know is what he said while grandstanding."

Nina chewed her lip uncertainly, and even without her inborn powers, the rest of the group could feel the amassing of energy over the house. Jesper shifted uneasily, more twitchy than usual.

"If it is unsafe, you have to let go Nina. We can track it down again," claimed Matthias, his big hand resting on Nina's shoulder. 

"Matthias, you make sure to stay besides Nina. I'll engage whatever comes out of the summoning circle one-on-one," Inej said, hoping that her calm voice hid her own nervousness. Proximity to the sort of energy surrounding powerful summoning was always unpleasant, and this ritual had been proceeding for weeks before they discovered it. The rift that this ritual inevitably tore would definitely let something nasty in. 

"I'll take out Van Eck and any other human interferences," said Jesper, hands on his guns. 

"And I'm gonna make sure that none of the guards notice anything," Wylan finished sullenly. Jesper rubbed his shoulder in a way that seemed almost comforting, and Inej nodded, confident that they all knew what they had to do. Of course, even if they followed the plan, the demons and guards were under none of the same agreements. 

Given all of this, of course things went terribly wrong once the actual hour came. They stayed just out of range of the wards, and Nina monitored the energy of the ritual as best she could. When they entered the area (Nina and Matthias had assured the rest of the group that they'd be able to break a hole in the wards) they'd have only moments before guards converged on them. 

Things actually went well at first. They broke through the walls with no issue, and Jesper and Inej were able to take out the guards that came with no issue. They made their way rapidly to the building, deserted for the most part, except for a round parlor on the ground floor, where Van Eck had set up the ritual. Inej, Nina and Matthias crept through the dark halls and listened for any footsteps, but it seemed like Van Eck had kept his guards to the perimeter, and had ordered them not to disturb him this close to the ritual. Inej could only hope that Wylan and Jesper had made their way to the wide windows on the other side of the parlor from the doorway behind which they lurked, but she had no way to check. 

They reached the doorway ahead of time. The demon needed to be at least partially materialized for Nina to bind it. 'Binding it to its bones' is what she called it, forcing the demon to anchor in the human world long enough for them to finish it off. The ritual seemed to be behind schedule, and so all there was to do was crouch silently in the hall and listen to the winds as they picked up, howling in the night. Was that the patter of raindrops as well? 

Nina crouched with her brow furrowed, listening to something that neither of them could hear. Matthias loomed over her like a guardian angel, looking the part with his sharp features and wild, light hair. Fitting, Inej thought, as he most often took the role of her protector in fights where she had to focus on spellcasting or binding rituals. 

Too soon, and yet not soon enough, Nina rapped softly on the wood floor, the signal to move. She needed line of sight for the ritual, which meant they had to be in the room. Inej eased the door open, and she had a moment to take in the view in front of her. Dimly, she noticed the grey light seeping in through the window, and the expensive furniture scattered and overturned around the perimeter of the room. It had all been moved to make room for the ritual, though such a word seemed dwarfed by the reality of what she saw. A massive circle was drawn out in the center of the room, runes and spells inscribed around the edges in patterns and in concentric circles, and standing in the circle was... something. Whatever was being summoned defied human description. To Inej, it appeared like a smoky mass, a collection of particles slowly settling into a shape encompassed by a red glow. Whatever it was, it was more than ten feet tall, and it had horns or spines that reached farther, the topmost wisps of smoke brushing the high ceilings of the parlor. 

Inej took a silent step or two into the room, and when Nina entered, the mass in the summoning circle shifted and rumbled, settling more firmly into this world. Van Eck turned, and his maniacal grin was visible for only a second before a bullet shot rang out and all hell broke loose.

Jesper had shot through the window, shattering it, and the noise rang in inej's ears as she darted for Van Eck. With the summoning interrupted and it's anchor fading, the smoke around the demon rapidly faded, leaving it shorter than it's full height, but still fearsome. It zeroed in on Nina, and lumbered in that direction, and Inej ran to meet it, slashing at it with her sharp blades, but barely making a decent cut in its hide. In the corner of her eye, Inej saw Jesper leap through the window, and heard Van Eck Shriek.

"Defend me! Defend me! Leave them and come!" He cowered, magic not suited to combat the way Jesper was. She saw the demon turn, not wanting to but compelled to follow the order of the contract holder, and was preparing to take advantage when the red light still emanating from the circle rippled. 

She payed the ripple no mind until a black slash tore down the center, and then indistinct dark hands tore it wide open. The new, smoky indeterminate figure stepped through, and immediately raced for the other demon. With an echoing shriek, the massive demon rebuffed both Inej and Jesper, sending Inej flying into a wall with one powerful swipe of a limb. Inej hit the wall and then the floor, and lay dazed for a moment as she took in the blurry chaos. Past the ringing in her ears, she heard harried incantations, and a rush of air that signaled transportation magic. She dimly thought that they must be desperate to get away, as transportation was tiring enough to be considered a last resort. 

When her vision cleared enough to stand, after what felt like minutes or hours, but was more likely just seconds, she sat herself up slowly and looked at the room. It was silent and dark, seeming far too empty without the massive presence of the ritual. The smoky figure of the second demon stood in the spot where Van Eck and the other demon had disappeared, doing the same as her and surveying the room. Inej met it's eyes for just a moment, before they were again obscured by the shifting smoke, but she was left with the stark impression of glittering, coffee brown, human eyes. 

For the second time, the silent tension was broken by Jesper. The gunshot shattered the brief peace, and ripped a hole in the vaporous body of the demon. The demon retaliated, crossing the room with an inhuman speed and fluidity, attacking constantly but weakly, a signifier of its half-formed state.

"Nina! Seal it!" Jesper shouted, fending off the blows frantically. 

"I don't have a medium, the other one used it up!" She responded. To bind a demon to the human world, one typically needed something to act as an anchor. Human bodies worked, as did certain types of crystal.

"Use me!" Shouted Inej on impulse, running to assist Jesper.

"I need you over here!"

Inej changed course, sending Jesper a silent apology as she did. She rushed to where Nina crouched over her chalk-scrawled spellcasting circle. Nina held out a hand and took the proffered forearm. She slashed a shallow cut down it, splattering blood onto the circle, and began chanting loudly. Inej remained beside Nina, but looked up when Matthias started forward. The demon had noticed their doings, and had rushed them, attacking Matthias with a new tenacity, though with each movement, it became more solid and human looking, and less fluid and unpredictable. Limbs became clear, and a human shape. Even the swirling of a long coat differentiated itself from the smoke as Nina went on. A particularly solid blow of what looked like a walking stick sent Matthias reeling, but before the demon could continue the offensive or go for Nina, Inej jumped in, slashing and twisting more gracefully than Matthias had. Her efforts were gratified by a narrow slash on a sharply visible cheekbone. He, and it was clearly a human-looking male now, leapt back at the sting of a holy blade, before coming at her again, quick and vicious. One moment she was on her feet, and the next she was falling, tripped and kicked off to the side. Matthias re-engaged, but he was doing poorly against a smaller, faster combatant. Abruptly, Nina finished her incantation.

"Inej! You can order it!" Inej heard that, even as she saw the demon swinging for Matthias's throat.

"Stop!" She shouted, more desperate than an order should be, but it did the trick. The demon froze in place, the wicked raven-headed walking stick inches from Matthias's face. He seemed to be attempting to kill Matthias through willpower alone, if the glare spoke for anything, and she saw his tense limbs trembling in resistance. She finally noticed a tingling, almost burning sensation in the forearm that Nina had slashed, and glanced down to see a seal sitting like a tattoo on her skin. 

"I don't think my bullets will work on him, do you want to do it Inej?" She was almost startled to hear Jesper speak into the silence. He'd come across the room from wherever he'd fallen during the fight with the demon. 

"... yeah, of course," she said, picking up the knife from where she'd dropped it before. She rounded the demon, again looking into its eyes. He-It looked completely human. More human than any other they'd dealt with. Not even slit pupils to give it away. When she raised her blade, it suddenly spoke.

"You'll die if you do that," Inej froze at the sound of its voice, rough like gravel.

"Do not listen to the demons tricks! Kill it now, it's snake tongue tells no truths!" Matthias spoke behind her.

"The witch, Nina. She didn't finish her apprenticeship did she?" The demon was still talking, staring levelly at Inej. She met the gaze silently, unwilling to show weakness to this creature that looked far too young and human, and yet not.

"This sort of contract is hard to break, and she's bound us together in ways that it doesn't seem like she understands. But you're in luck," a sharp grin, no more than the baring of teeth crossed his face, "because we have the same goals, hunter. I'll help you catch Van Eck and the other demon."

"That's not-" Matthias began, but was cut off sharply. Inej glanced back at Nina and saw her wide eyes and blanched skin, one hand placed on Matthias's forearm to silence him. 

"He might be right..." she said softly, looking stricken at the remnants of her ritual. Inej knew she'd never finished her education, and that her old Grimoire had burned years ago. Nina had been piecing her knowledge back together but by bit in their travels.

"I-I don't know... don't kill him Inej."

"... you can command him right? So you can order him not to hurt us?" Jesper asked, dragging himself to his feet from where he'd been flung in the fight. 

"She can. He should have to follow every direct command, and answer questions truthfully," said Nina. 

"We'd have to be careful, they have trickster tongues. As careful with phrasing as if one was wishing on a djinn," added Matthias. 

"That's all well and good, but could you release me from this position?" The demon requested, far too relaxed for someone who's life was being discussed. 

"Stand or sit however you'd like but don't run away or harm any of us or our friends or family," said Inej, if only to get it to leave them alone for a bit. The demon relaxed, placing the walking stick on the ground and limping over to the wall, where he righted an ornate chair to sit in. 

"Aw. You should have let him hang out there for a while, Inej," Jesper said, joking tensely.

"Jesper, Matthias why don't you two go find Wylan and get him back here. I'm sure he's drugged every guard on the premises by now." As a young potion maker, with zero experience in combat besides the odd explosion, Inej had wanted to keep him as far from a harried, close combat situation as possible. 

"But-" Inej raised an eyebrow and tapped the hilt of her knife warningly when Matthias started to protest. This was more a signal that she and Nina could handle themselves than a threat to Matthias. He straightened, but gave Nina's shoulder one last squeeze.

"Be careful. We will return soon," said Matthias, and with that he was off, striding in a fast, soldierly gate that had Jesper trotting after him.

"I am so sorry Inej! I can't believe I forgot something like that!" Nina said, frantically flipping through her notebook, fetched out of a bag that she'd left in the hall.

"He could be lying Nina. What do you have about that spell?" Inej was trying to keep calm. She didn't necessarily want a demon hanging around, or bound to her life, but there were ways that they could deal with this.

"No... hardly anything except for the steps. This was one of the last ones I learned properly, and I don't think there's really any older records because Zoya unearthed it from some super ancient text herself..." 

"Okay, it's okay, we'll deal with it," Inej said, glancing away from their huddled conference to where the demon sat, looking bored. He'd righted a different chair at some point and propped a leg up on it. Inej thought it odd that something that moved as fast and fought as fearsomely should have a bad leg. 

"You! What's your name?" She asked.

"Well my working name is Dirtyhands, that's what most people who contract me call me," his voice was no less jarring the second time. It was like someone had taken a wood rasp to his vocal cords. Inej sighed, knowing that actually getting anything out of this demon would be like pulling teeth. 

At this time, Jesper, Matthias and Wylan climbed through the shattered bay window. Matthias and Jesper both gravitated to where Inej and Nina stood immediately, and Wylan walked with them until he caught sight of the Demon, and then he froze.

"Why is he here again??" He asked, horror clear on his face. 

"You recognize that demon?" Inej responded curiously.

"Junior! So good to see you again. You finally ran away from your loving father I see," Dirtyhands pitched in, and Wylan took a step away from him and closer to Jesper.

"Dad made a contract with him before but... he said he'd killed the demon..." said Wylan.

"As it turns out, I really do want to get back at him. He owes me and that other demon well... I'm willing to help you catch your guy, and in return all you have to do is try and figure out how to get me unstuck." 

Matthias was still unconvinced. "I say we order him to sleep indefinitely until we figure out how to undo this binding and then just kill him."

"Poor Matthias. You're so fearful of everything new to you. How do you know I can't give you what you want?"

"Silence!"

"I can find you your old brotherhood. I know where they moved too after you betrayed them. Isn't that what you really want?" His voice was low, soft and promising. Matthias had blanched, normally bronze skin powder white.

"Matthias..." Nina approached Matthias and lay a hand on his arm, an attempt to calm or reassure him, but it didn't seem to work very well.

"Stop, demon. We're all going back to the safe-house and then you're going to tell me everything you know about Van Eck and that other demon."

"As you wish," the demon said, standing easily.

"You're also going to tell me all about yourself and your powers," Inej said. Whatever this demon was, he was unlike any she'd seen before. If she was going to control him she'd need more information.

"Of course," the demon seemed less thrilled, and Inej sensed a faint tingling in her forearm, a signal that he might have tried resisting that order.

"Come on then, let's get out of this god-forsaken house," she said wearily. Once the adrenaline and stress wore off, Inej became increasingly aware of the bruises, aches and pains all over her body from the fight. Jesper seemed equally sore, and Nina was washed out and exhausted looking from performing two binding rituals in one day.

They trudged the mile and then some away to where they'd parked and hidden Jesper's terrible lime green van. Wylan claimed the shotgun seat, and no one had the energy to argue with him, and Jesper took the drivers seat. There was a mild kerfuffle because Jesper kept boxes of hunting materials and weapons on one of the seats in the back row, meaning that with an added body they were one seat short.

"He can sit on Matthias's lap," suggested Nina sleepily, from where she sat with her cheek pillowed on Matthias's shoulder in the second row of seats. Inej stifled a laugh, because it was hard to tell who looked more affronted by this suggestion, the demon or Matthias.

"It will not-!"

"Calm down I'll move the stuff," mumbled Inej, cutting off his indignant protest. She dumped the box unceremoniously into the trunk, gaining a noise of protest from Jesper, before sinking into the lumpy car seat with a sigh of relief. The demon hesitated outside the car door for a moment.

"Come on, get in," prompted Inej, and he did so slowly and awkwardly, falling into place besides her, and looking less than thrilled. Of course five hunters and an unhappy demon in one van made for an uncomfortable and unhappy experience. The silence loomed, and everyone became more and more miserable. Inej's sneaking feeling that the demon was doing something ended up confirmed by Nina.

"Would you stop doing that!!" Shouted Nina, twisting to look back at them after several minutes of curling further into Matthias's side.

"I don't know what you're talking about," responded the demon.

"Stop making everyone miserable," Inej ordered, and immediately the feeling in the air lightened, though the demon looked even sulkier and slouched farther against the window and away from her. She resolved to ask him to enumerate his powers more specifically as soon as they reached the house. There was definitely some emotional manipulation at play.

"Thank you, Inej," Nina said pointedly, shooting the demon a dirty look before turning away. 

They arrived at the run down home they'd been renting for the past few months after about an hour of driving, most of that spent in silence except for Jesper's questionable choice of radio station. Nina leant half her weight shamelessly on Matthias during the short walk inside, and Inej couldn't blame her. She felt like keeling over, or taking a hot bath. Though if she tried to take a bath at the moment she would probably pass out and drown. That wasn't even the only reason that the bath was out of the question. She still had work to do.

"Demon. Dirtyhands, sit there and tell us about your abilities," Inej sai, cutting to the chase when she saw him follow warily in the door. Everyone else collapsed onto worn chairs and couches around the living room and watched him expectantly. Inej watched him as well, taking the chance to really look at him for the first time. The demon had a sharp jaw and sharp cheekbones, everything about him really, was sharp. He was covered neck to feet by a dark, old-fashioned but neat suit. His hands were gloved. A silver scar cut through one eyebrow, and his pointed nose was crooked from being broken once, maybe twice. 

"Dirtyhands is such a long name, and it doesn't even sound real. Is there anything better we can call you?" Chimed in Nina before he could begin.

"You can call me Kaz if you'd like," he responded, of his own free will this time. Inej thought he might be stalling for time before he had to fulfill her orders. He paused before continuing, eyes flitting from face to face. 

"I can infiltrate dreams and manipulate emotions. A lot of my power comes from taking advantage of human weakness. Manipulating people using fear, greed, guilt," on that last word his dark gaze settled on Matthias for just a moment," I sense it. I feed off of it. In my human form my strength is significantly higher than that of a human and I'm very good with knives and locks. And my cane. Most of those are holdovers from my human life. " Inej felt the tingling that indicated resistance there. He was trying to hide something. 

"What was your human life?" Inej pressed, and she felt the tingling escalate to a burning.

"You were human?" Wylan asked incredulously, gaining an odd look from Jesper.

"Yes." His response came through gritted teeth, and the burning only intensified. 

"I'll make you a deal. I'll cooperate with anything else you want to know about my abilities or Pekka or Van Eck. But I won't tell you about my human life." His voice was strained, and his gloved hands gripped tightly at his knees. Inej frowned, unsure if she should grant him this mercy. 

"Do not make me talk about my human life. Please," Kaz said haltingly, and though she noticed that the negative emotions suffused the room, it was no longer that he was deliberately trying to make them miserable. More like his own emotions were suddenly too large for his human shell, and so they'd spread out to all of them. It was the 'please' that decided it, that little show of humanity.

"Okay. You don't need to tell us about that. Who's Pekka, I haven't heard that name? Tell us everything about whoever that is." Inej relaxed when the burning stopped, and she saw Kaz sag slightly in place as well. She made sure to be very careful in her phrasing of every question as she spoke.

"I have," Wylan piped up, "my father mentioned it a couple times but I didn't know what it meant."

"Pekka is that demon that Van Eck summoned. He's one of the most powerful demons around. I have a personal grudge... that's why I'm willing to work with you. He's a manticore, but he has a human form as well, and sometimes operates in the human world. He was never human though. Some of us were and some of us never were," Kaz finished, and Inej felt no burning so she figured that he must not be holding anything important back. 

"Anything else?" Kaz asked, rather belligerently. Inej was tempted to ask something else just to be annoying but ultimately decided against it. She shook her head. 

"Well I'm gonna turn in. I'm covered in dust and bruises and probably smell bad," said Jesper, pushing himself to his feet. 

"Hey Wylan wanna come shower with me?" He asked jokingly.

"As if that crappy shower head even has enough flow to clean one person properly, let alone two," responded Wylan primly. 

"Geez, sorry our place isn't up to your standards your highness," sniffed Jesper, but watching them banter made Inej feel lighter than she had all day. 

"Who cares, we all smell bad just get clean," grumbled Matthias from where Nina was again using him as a pillow. 

"He's right, let's just all shower and go to bed. Kaz um... you can take the couch I guess? Also just in case. Do not attack or hurt any of the five of us in any way and don't contact any other demons in order to allow or tell them to hurt us in any way." Inej felt slightly uncomfortable with the demon here, but there wasn't really much she could do if she wanted him to help them. 

"Hay man, no hard feelings about the whole throwing me into a wall thing, I did shoot at you. Do you need to borrow pajamas?" Asked Jesper. Inej almost snorted at the thought of the dark mysterious demon in neon orange and pink pj pants. The demon didn't seem particularly impressed with the offer though.

"I don't need to sleep and I don't enjoy it. You'll find me here in the morning," he said coolly. Inej sighed, and left the room with one more cautious glance in. She heard the others follow her out.

It took a long time for her to fall asleep that night, but her sleep was dreamless, a rare pleasure for her. Perhaps it was exhaustion or a spell or a gift from the saints or demonic interference, but whatever it was she was grateful.

**Author's Note:**

> Yay demon au! I needed to write this I'm sorry it's so self indulgent. I won't add any more to this fic but I might write other oneshots in this au, and I might eventually develop ships. Anyways! If you liked what you read please comment!


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